8 july 2019
By Anan Shehadeh
In 2005, precisely when the Israeli authorities began building the apartheid wall in Jerusalem and Bethlehem areas, the suffering of the residents of the Wadi al-Hummos, an area part of Sur Bahir, a Palestinian neighborhood southeast of the occupied city of Jerusalem, began to surface and gradually worsen.
The neighborhood, which is about 6000 dunams in area, was divided into two parts when building the wall was completed, with half of it being inside the wall, that is on the Jerusalem side, and the other half outside it that remained part of the West Bank, which is an area that reaches its borders from Sur Baher to Beit Sahour and other nearby villages in the Bethlehem district.
Last month, Israel decided to demolish 100 residential apartments on the West Bank side of the wall claiming they were built too close to the wall. It gave the resident until July 18 to evacuate the area.
The head of the services committee in Wadi al-Hummos, Hamada Hamada, said that the land where the buildings are located is under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority (PA) as defined in the Oslo Accords which classified the West Bank into areas A (under PA rule), B (joint PA, Israeli rule) and C (full Israeli control).
Hamada told WAFA that 6000 people live in Wadi al-Hummos and with the urgent need for urban expansion, residents of Sur Baher started to expand and built homes on their own land. However, with the construction of the wall and dividing Sur Baher land and people, problems began to surface with Israel issuing halt construction orders and threats of demolition.
Hamada said the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem would not provide them with services and at the same time refused to acknowledge that this land was under PA control. Whenever they asked for services, the municipality would tell him to go and get it from the PA.
“All the buildings have legal permits by the local government in Bethlehem,” he said, pointing to the poor conditions of life because of the absence of infrastructure from sewage network, water and even roads and the chaos of the construction process.
Hamada noted that many people are threated to have their Israeli IDs revoked and thus prevented from receiving medical services in Israeli hospital, stressing that many of the citizens are facing serious difficulties in registering their children in their personal IDs, and that there are a number of young men, boys and children, including those over the age of 22, who are still without civil documents.
“My daughter is three years now and she is still without legal documents. She has only a birth certificate without a number,” he said.
“There is a clear policy of emptying the area in order for it to be an extension of the surrounding settlements. I personally pay NIS $600 for national health insurance, as it is required in Israeli law, but I do not receive any services in return.”
Hamada pointed out that the people of Sur Bahir are Palestinian refugees who have UN cards and therefore it is necessary to protect them and not to displace them again, stressing that the demolition decision orders the owners of buildings and facilities to demolish them by themselves. If not, Israel will demolish them at their expense, which sometimes can cost up to $30,000.
He added that the danger lies in the fact that if the 100 apartments are demolished, the same thing will happen to the buildings in other areas and thus the displacement of more than 6000 citizens from their homes and land, meaning it could be the largest migration since 1967.
The governor of Bethlehem Kamel Hamid called for an action plan to thwart all the Israeli measures in the region.
“We all have to work together to reduce settlement ambitions in the region, especially Bethlehem, in general, “ he said. “It requires focusing on the legal side as well as providing all forms of aid and assistance to the population from water, electricity and infrastructure through a joint committee to ease the damage they are expected to face.”
He pointed out that there should be a clear understanding on a program of peaceful resistance in terms of setting up tents for protesting and expanding popular participation, as happened in Khan al-Ahmar, stressing that Bethlehem has recently been subjected to a raging settlement attack and repeated incursions.
The director of the office of the Wall and Settlements Resistance in Bethlehem, Hassan Breijieh, told WAFA that Wadi al-Hummos area attracted residents of Jerusalem who wanted to escape the difficulty of life under Israeli law there.
He pointed out that the demolition decision was issued by the Israeli Supreme Court at the recommendation of the Israeli army, noting that no clashes or any other military confrontations ever happened in the area. In fact, it was the Israeli forces who committed a crime against a young man from Hebron when they shot him while trying to reach Al Aqsa Mosque to perform Friday prayers in the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Breijieh said the area has been quiet but there are attempts by the Israeli forces to create a state of tension there in order to cause confusion and implement plans of demolition of houses and justify the construction of the wall for “security reasons,” pointing out that the wall is illegal and causes harm according to international tribunals on the matter.
He said that a tent will be set up in the area outside the wall and will be used for solidarity purpose, adding that the area was chosen because it can easily be reached by individuals and delegations.
The director general of local government in Jerusalem, Musa al-Sha’er, said that a service committee in Wadi Al-Hummos was established in 2018 in order to provide services and be the authorized party to deal with the official authorities.
He pointed out that the granting of building permits in the region is still ongoing and it is the job of the PA, and that there are projects to be implemented in the coming period that include rehabilitation of the streets and the establishment of drinking water pipes. The local government gives $15,000 monthly to the Services Committee as operating expenses and to strengthen stability.
He explained that the area belongs administratively to Jerusalem, but at times the Local Government in Bethlehem was given the right for granting building permits.
In 2005, precisely when the Israeli authorities began building the apartheid wall in Jerusalem and Bethlehem areas, the suffering of the residents of the Wadi al-Hummos, an area part of Sur Bahir, a Palestinian neighborhood southeast of the occupied city of Jerusalem, began to surface and gradually worsen.
The neighborhood, which is about 6000 dunams in area, was divided into two parts when building the wall was completed, with half of it being inside the wall, that is on the Jerusalem side, and the other half outside it that remained part of the West Bank, which is an area that reaches its borders from Sur Baher to Beit Sahour and other nearby villages in the Bethlehem district.
Last month, Israel decided to demolish 100 residential apartments on the West Bank side of the wall claiming they were built too close to the wall. It gave the resident until July 18 to evacuate the area.
The head of the services committee in Wadi al-Hummos, Hamada Hamada, said that the land where the buildings are located is under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority (PA) as defined in the Oslo Accords which classified the West Bank into areas A (under PA rule), B (joint PA, Israeli rule) and C (full Israeli control).
Hamada told WAFA that 6000 people live in Wadi al-Hummos and with the urgent need for urban expansion, residents of Sur Baher started to expand and built homes on their own land. However, with the construction of the wall and dividing Sur Baher land and people, problems began to surface with Israel issuing halt construction orders and threats of demolition.
Hamada said the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem would not provide them with services and at the same time refused to acknowledge that this land was under PA control. Whenever they asked for services, the municipality would tell him to go and get it from the PA.
“All the buildings have legal permits by the local government in Bethlehem,” he said, pointing to the poor conditions of life because of the absence of infrastructure from sewage network, water and even roads and the chaos of the construction process.
Hamada noted that many people are threated to have their Israeli IDs revoked and thus prevented from receiving medical services in Israeli hospital, stressing that many of the citizens are facing serious difficulties in registering their children in their personal IDs, and that there are a number of young men, boys and children, including those over the age of 22, who are still without civil documents.
“My daughter is three years now and she is still without legal documents. She has only a birth certificate without a number,” he said.
“There is a clear policy of emptying the area in order for it to be an extension of the surrounding settlements. I personally pay NIS $600 for national health insurance, as it is required in Israeli law, but I do not receive any services in return.”
Hamada pointed out that the people of Sur Bahir are Palestinian refugees who have UN cards and therefore it is necessary to protect them and not to displace them again, stressing that the demolition decision orders the owners of buildings and facilities to demolish them by themselves. If not, Israel will demolish them at their expense, which sometimes can cost up to $30,000.
He added that the danger lies in the fact that if the 100 apartments are demolished, the same thing will happen to the buildings in other areas and thus the displacement of more than 6000 citizens from their homes and land, meaning it could be the largest migration since 1967.
The governor of Bethlehem Kamel Hamid called for an action plan to thwart all the Israeli measures in the region.
“We all have to work together to reduce settlement ambitions in the region, especially Bethlehem, in general, “ he said. “It requires focusing on the legal side as well as providing all forms of aid and assistance to the population from water, electricity and infrastructure through a joint committee to ease the damage they are expected to face.”
He pointed out that there should be a clear understanding on a program of peaceful resistance in terms of setting up tents for protesting and expanding popular participation, as happened in Khan al-Ahmar, stressing that Bethlehem has recently been subjected to a raging settlement attack and repeated incursions.
The director of the office of the Wall and Settlements Resistance in Bethlehem, Hassan Breijieh, told WAFA that Wadi al-Hummos area attracted residents of Jerusalem who wanted to escape the difficulty of life under Israeli law there.
He pointed out that the demolition decision was issued by the Israeli Supreme Court at the recommendation of the Israeli army, noting that no clashes or any other military confrontations ever happened in the area. In fact, it was the Israeli forces who committed a crime against a young man from Hebron when they shot him while trying to reach Al Aqsa Mosque to perform Friday prayers in the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Breijieh said the area has been quiet but there are attempts by the Israeli forces to create a state of tension there in order to cause confusion and implement plans of demolition of houses and justify the construction of the wall for “security reasons,” pointing out that the wall is illegal and causes harm according to international tribunals on the matter.
He said that a tent will be set up in the area outside the wall and will be used for solidarity purpose, adding that the area was chosen because it can easily be reached by individuals and delegations.
The director general of local government in Jerusalem, Musa al-Sha’er, said that a service committee in Wadi Al-Hummos was established in 2018 in order to provide services and be the authorized party to deal with the official authorities.
He pointed out that the granting of building permits in the region is still ongoing and it is the job of the PA, and that there are projects to be implemented in the coming period that include rehabilitation of the streets and the establishment of drinking water pipes. The local government gives $15,000 monthly to the Services Committee as operating expenses and to strengthen stability.
He explained that the area belongs administratively to Jerusalem, but at times the Local Government in Bethlehem was given the right for granting building permits.
6 july 2019
Ali al-Hayek, head of the Palestinian Businessmen Association, has called for necessarily lifting the Israeli ban on the entry of many raw materials and construction needs to the Gaza Strip on allegations they are dual-use goods.
In a press release, Hayek also stressed the need to end the UN-sponsored reconstruction mechanism in Gaza, known as “GRM,” saying such mechanism led to disastrous and destructive impacts on Gaza’s economy.
The GRM is a temporary agreement between the Palestinian Authority, Israel and the UN that went into effect after the 2014 aggression against Gaza.
The GRM sets out procedures supposedly to enable the entry of essential construction materials to Gaza, which is under Israeli blockade.
However, it has failed to enable large-scale construction and reconstruction in the coastal enclave.
Hayek underlined that the Gaza reconstruction mechanism (GRM) contributed to strengthening the siege on post-war Gaza, strangulating its economy and destroying the construction sector — the largest employer of workers — by restricting the entry of building materials needed to construct and reconstruct homes and infrastructure.
He also called for lifting Israel’s ban on the entry of more than 500 types of goods needed by the commercial and industrial sectors in Gaza.
In a press release, Hayek also stressed the need to end the UN-sponsored reconstruction mechanism in Gaza, known as “GRM,” saying such mechanism led to disastrous and destructive impacts on Gaza’s economy.
The GRM is a temporary agreement between the Palestinian Authority, Israel and the UN that went into effect after the 2014 aggression against Gaza.
The GRM sets out procedures supposedly to enable the entry of essential construction materials to Gaza, which is under Israeli blockade.
However, it has failed to enable large-scale construction and reconstruction in the coastal enclave.
Hayek underlined that the Gaza reconstruction mechanism (GRM) contributed to strengthening the siege on post-war Gaza, strangulating its economy and destroying the construction sector — the largest employer of workers — by restricting the entry of building materials needed to construct and reconstruct homes and infrastructure.
He also called for lifting Israel’s ban on the entry of more than 500 types of goods needed by the commercial and industrial sectors in Gaza.
4 july 2019
Hundreds of Palestinian fishermen on Thursday staged a sit-in at the port of Gaza City in protest at Israel’s measures and aggressive practices against them.
The Israeli occupation authority has recently escalated its restrictions on fishing activity in Gaza waters, where it kept attacking fishermen, arresting them, confiscating their boats and equipment, closing the Gaza sea and manipulating the permitted fishing area.
The fishermen demand an end to Israel’s repeated sea closures and its daily attacks on them.
They have called on the international community and its concerned organizations to urgently intervene to provide protection for the fishermen and curb Israel’s acts of piracy against them.
The Israeli occupation authority has recently escalated its restrictions on fishing activity in Gaza waters, where it kept attacking fishermen, arresting them, confiscating their boats and equipment, closing the Gaza sea and manipulating the permitted fishing area.
The fishermen demand an end to Israel’s repeated sea closures and its daily attacks on them.
They have called on the international community and its concerned organizations to urgently intervene to provide protection for the fishermen and curb Israel’s acts of piracy against them.
The Palestine Football Association (PFA), today, announced a delay in the final Palestine Cup game, scheduled to be played in the West Bank, today, after Israel delayed issuing of permits for the Gaza-based team to play in the West Bank, said the PFA.
“The Palestine Football Association regrets to announce the postponement of the Palestine Cup Final Match between Balata FC and Khadamat Rafah FC due yet another flagrant intervention by the Israeli occupation Authorities to deny Palestinians their basic right to play football,” it said in a statement, according to WAFA.
“Preparations for this final match of the Palestine Cup, which is one of Palestine’s two senior official competitions, have been finalized a few days ago, yet, the Israeli Occupation authorities are still denying entry permits to the Khadamat Rafah delegation under the convenient pretext of ‘security reasons’,” it said.
Out of the 35 people on the Khadamat Rafah delegation list, only four were approved; the club president, vice president, one doctor, and one single player. Two extra’ administrators would be approved provided they agree to undergo interrogation at the Israeli-controlled crossing between the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said the PFA.
The PFA called on FIFA and the six football confederations under its umbrella to help the Palestine Football Association safeguard its right to play football, to organize national competitions and participate in international competitions by taking effective measures to make sure football is played in Palestine without hindrance.
“The Palestine Football Association regrets to announce the postponement of the Palestine Cup Final Match between Balata FC and Khadamat Rafah FC due yet another flagrant intervention by the Israeli occupation Authorities to deny Palestinians their basic right to play football,” it said in a statement, according to WAFA.
“Preparations for this final match of the Palestine Cup, which is one of Palestine’s two senior official competitions, have been finalized a few days ago, yet, the Israeli Occupation authorities are still denying entry permits to the Khadamat Rafah delegation under the convenient pretext of ‘security reasons’,” it said.
Out of the 35 people on the Khadamat Rafah delegation list, only four were approved; the club president, vice president, one doctor, and one single player. Two extra’ administrators would be approved provided they agree to undergo interrogation at the Israeli-controlled crossing between the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said the PFA.
The PFA called on FIFA and the six football confederations under its umbrella to help the Palestine Football Association safeguard its right to play football, to organize national competitions and participate in international competitions by taking effective measures to make sure football is played in Palestine without hindrance.
28 june 2019
The Israeli occupation authorities have decided to expand the fishing zone in Gaza waters to 15 nautical miles starting Friday.
On Friday morning the Israeli authorities allowed the entry of Qatari fuel supplies into Gaza after a ban imposed since Tuesday.
Israeli media on Thursday night announced that an Egypt mediated agreement had been reached between Israel and Palestinian resistance groups in the Gaza Strip.
Based on the agreement, Israel is supposed to expand the permitted fishing area, return all seized fishing boats, allow fuel supplies into the enclave, and prevent its forces from opening fire at the Great March of Return protesters.
The Israeli occupation authorities last Tuesday imposed a ban on the entry of Qatari fuel into the besieged Gaza Strip in response to fire balloons launched from the coastal enclave over the eastern border fence.
On Friday morning the Israeli authorities allowed the entry of Qatari fuel supplies into Gaza after a ban imposed since Tuesday.
Israeli media on Thursday night announced that an Egypt mediated agreement had been reached between Israel and Palestinian resistance groups in the Gaza Strip.
Based on the agreement, Israel is supposed to expand the permitted fishing area, return all seized fishing boats, allow fuel supplies into the enclave, and prevent its forces from opening fire at the Great March of Return protesters.
The Israeli occupation authorities last Tuesday imposed a ban on the entry of Qatari fuel into the besieged Gaza Strip in response to fire balloons launched from the coastal enclave over the eastern border fence.
24 june 2019
Palestinian infants brought from the besieged Gaza Strip, to Jerusalem’s Makassed hospital are, according to the U.K.’s Guardian, must endure their hospital stay alone, and their families suffer from afar.
Medical grounds may compel Israel to allow a critically ill patient to travel to Jerusalem for more specialized care, but not necessarily for parents of sick newborns.
According to information provided by the Makassed hospital, since the beginning of 2018, of 56 acutely ill babies, transferred from Gaza, to the Jerusalem hospital, 6 passed away, alone, with no parent present.
The story of Hiba Swailam, 24, mother from Gaza, gave birth to very premature triplets in Makassed hospital in Jerusalem, 2 of the tiny infants weighed less than a kilogram each.
When Hiba’s travel permit expired, she was required to return to Gaza. At nine days old, one of the smallest triplet passed away, with no family member present.
The hospital broke the news of the second newborn’s death at 23 days old, by telephone. Another infant died alone, the same mother, forced to mourn her infants’ deaths for life.
The surviving triplet, Shahad, nurtured in the beginning by the hardworking nurses, her mother, was only able to see her daughter via video calls, and despite being ready for discharge, family members had to wait for a permit to leave Gaza.
Israeli medical non-profit organization, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, reported that more than 7,000 permits for minors from Gaza were issued in 2018, while less than 2,000 permits for parents were granted. This statistic alone, leaves a dire impression of the needless torment inflicted on the families of Gaza.
Mor Efrat, the group’s director for the occupied Palestinian territories, was quoted saying “the Israeli government should be held accountable for the human suffering”.
Since Donald Trump cut millions in medical aid to hospitals serving Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, the hospital has experienced many difficulties.
The nurse in charge at the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), in Makassed hospital, Ibtisam Risiq, relates the psychological effect of newborns living without parents present, asserting that these fragile infants “need love”.
The illegal blockade on Gaza, Israel claims, is to prevent Hamas and other resistance groups from launching attacks on Israel, while the United Nations calls it “collective punishment”. The 2 million Palestinians inhabiting Gaza are under siege, cut off from the West Bank, deprived of the Freedom of Movement.
The Makassed hospital serves Palestinians in the West Bank, whom also find it difficult, or impossible, to get to the hospital.
UK-based health charity, Medical Aid for Palestinians, have given British MPs tours of Makassed hospital in an effort to expose the results of separating children from their parents.
Rosena Allin-Khan, a UK Labour member of parliament (MP), and former emergency doctor, who visited the East Jerusalem hospital, says she has been demanding the UK government to intervene. She declared that “no child, anywhere in the world, should be alone in their time of greatest need,” concluding that, “the UK government must lean on Israeli authorities to overhaul this inhumane system.”
Medical grounds may compel Israel to allow a critically ill patient to travel to Jerusalem for more specialized care, but not necessarily for parents of sick newborns.
According to information provided by the Makassed hospital, since the beginning of 2018, of 56 acutely ill babies, transferred from Gaza, to the Jerusalem hospital, 6 passed away, alone, with no parent present.
The story of Hiba Swailam, 24, mother from Gaza, gave birth to very premature triplets in Makassed hospital in Jerusalem, 2 of the tiny infants weighed less than a kilogram each.
When Hiba’s travel permit expired, she was required to return to Gaza. At nine days old, one of the smallest triplet passed away, with no family member present.
The hospital broke the news of the second newborn’s death at 23 days old, by telephone. Another infant died alone, the same mother, forced to mourn her infants’ deaths for life.
The surviving triplet, Shahad, nurtured in the beginning by the hardworking nurses, her mother, was only able to see her daughter via video calls, and despite being ready for discharge, family members had to wait for a permit to leave Gaza.
Israeli medical non-profit organization, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, reported that more than 7,000 permits for minors from Gaza were issued in 2018, while less than 2,000 permits for parents were granted. This statistic alone, leaves a dire impression of the needless torment inflicted on the families of Gaza.
Mor Efrat, the group’s director for the occupied Palestinian territories, was quoted saying “the Israeli government should be held accountable for the human suffering”.
Since Donald Trump cut millions in medical aid to hospitals serving Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, the hospital has experienced many difficulties.
The nurse in charge at the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), in Makassed hospital, Ibtisam Risiq, relates the psychological effect of newborns living without parents present, asserting that these fragile infants “need love”.
The illegal blockade on Gaza, Israel claims, is to prevent Hamas and other resistance groups from launching attacks on Israel, while the United Nations calls it “collective punishment”. The 2 million Palestinians inhabiting Gaza are under siege, cut off from the West Bank, deprived of the Freedom of Movement.
The Makassed hospital serves Palestinians in the West Bank, whom also find it difficult, or impossible, to get to the hospital.
UK-based health charity, Medical Aid for Palestinians, have given British MPs tours of Makassed hospital in an effort to expose the results of separating children from their parents.
Rosena Allin-Khan, a UK Labour member of parliament (MP), and former emergency doctor, who visited the East Jerusalem hospital, says she has been demanding the UK government to intervene. She declared that “no child, anywhere in the world, should be alone in their time of greatest need,” concluding that, “the UK government must lean on Israeli authorities to overhaul this inhumane system.”
22 june 2019
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Saturday afternoon set up a military checkpoint east of Jenin city and hindered the movement of Palestinian residents.
Local sources told the PIC reporter that the IOF erected a checkpoint near Kharrouba neighborhood, stopped the Palestinian vehicles passing in the area, searched them, and interrogated the passengers.
The IOF further combed the neighboring farmlands and deployed among the olive fields, they added.
Local sources told the PIC reporter that the IOF erected a checkpoint near Kharrouba neighborhood, stopped the Palestinian vehicles passing in the area, searched them, and interrogated the passengers.
The IOF further combed the neighboring farmlands and deployed among the olive fields, they added.
21 june 2019
The Palestinian health ministry has warned that half of the patients in the embattled Gaza Strip have become with no medication due to a 52-percent deficit in different medical supplies.
In a recent news conference held in Gaza, spokesman for the health ministry Ashraf al-Qudra described the deficit of 52 percent in medical supplies as an unprecedented crisis hitting the hospitals in Gaza.
Qudra pointed out that 14 types of medicinal baby milk (formula) and food supplements that more than 50 children need in Gaza hospitals had run out.
“This is not just passing figures and stories that are told and heard. Some of them pay a harsh price when they lose their sons and daughters who need treatment but find no medication,” he said.
In a recent news conference held in Gaza, spokesman for the health ministry Ashraf al-Qudra described the deficit of 52 percent in medical supplies as an unprecedented crisis hitting the hospitals in Gaza.
Qudra pointed out that 14 types of medicinal baby milk (formula) and food supplements that more than 50 children need in Gaza hospitals had run out.
“This is not just passing figures and stories that are told and heard. Some of them pay a harsh price when they lose their sons and daughters who need treatment but find no medication,” he said.
19 june 2019
Palestinian fishermen incur daily losses amounting to more than half a million shekels (about $140,000) as a result of Israel’s current naval closure on the Gaza Strip, according to Nizar Ayyash, chief of the fishermen’s union.
Ayyash told Quds Press that Israel’s naval closure, which started six days ago, on Gaza deprived 4,000 fishermen of their sole source of livelihood and made them join the ranks of the unemployed.
He condemned the Israeli naval closure as “mass punishment” against 4,000 fishermen supporting about 50,000 people in Gaza.
On June 12, the Israeli occupation army imposed a complete fishing ban in Gaza waters, claiming the measure was in response to the launch of inflaming balloons at Israeli areas.
Ayyash told Quds Press that Israel’s naval closure, which started six days ago, on Gaza deprived 4,000 fishermen of their sole source of livelihood and made them join the ranks of the unemployed.
He condemned the Israeli naval closure as “mass punishment” against 4,000 fishermen supporting about 50,000 people in Gaza.
On June 12, the Israeli occupation army imposed a complete fishing ban in Gaza waters, claiming the measure was in response to the launch of inflaming balloons at Israeli areas.
